Why You Should Drive For Positive Culture

That statement could be stapled across every business right now. From books like The Advantage to seminars across the country, businesses are recognizing more and more the importance of culture. Whether you realize it or not, culture is being established every day – the question is are you driving positive culture or a negative one? Here are 3 ways you can check.

Positive Culture Focuses On People Not Profits

Positive cultures are led by positive leaders – and positive leaders recognize that their business and organization is people first not profit. When Southwest Airlines decided to not charge baggage fees, they did it because they wanted it to reflect their culture. They purposely looked at the people they were trying to reach and made a conscious decision to reflect that in one major way. If you’re making decisions based solely on profit – chances are you’re heading towards a negative culture.

Positive Culture Starts With Positive Leaders

Have you ever interacted with a boss or peer that was consistently negative? Regardless of the situation, they found a way to be negative, and it was usually under the disguise of them being “analytical” or “processing”. While we encourage every business to thoroughly look through a plan, as a leader, your job is to lead – and that has to start with positivity. If you find yourself going negative first, try taking a positive angle first to see what it does for your culture.

“As a positive leader, you can’t just show the way and talk about the way. You must also lead the way. You must live your culture and know that it is an extension of who you are as a leader” (Gordon, 2017, p. 21)

Positive Culture Is Built By Leaders But Fought For By Everyone Else

The way you know that you have hit the point of positive culture is when your employees and peers are collectively fighting for that culture. When the people around you start taking a positive stance first, and confront negativity head-on, you’ve hit the positive culture mark.

“When you create a culture worth fighting for and invest in your people to the degree that they want to fight for your culture and for each other, your organization will have grit and strength to overcome the challenges you face and become an unstoppable and positive force” (Gordon, 2017, p. 27).

We’re Teaching About Positive Leadership!

On November 9th, we are launching an in-person training covering The Power of Positive Leadership by Jon Gordon to register for this event click here. We can’t wait to see you!